Alex Pattle

Alex Pattle focuses on combat sports for The Independent, combining close-quarters event coverage with detailed reporting on the politics and risks around major fights. He serves as Combat Sports Editor and sports writer, predominantly covering boxing and mixed martial arts while also writing extensively about tennis. His work is built on regular live reports from high-profile cards, structured schedules and guides for UFC events, and features that track how regulatory decisions and matchmaking shape the sport. He has conducted exclusive interviews with fighters such as Oleksandr Usyk, Jake Paul and Israel Adesanya, using access to leading names to anchor coverage of the wider combat-sports landscape. His career began at ESPN and he has been recognised with a nomination in the British Sports Journalism Awards’ young writer category.

Combat sports editor: boxing, MMA and UFC cards

Pattle’s core output is boxing and MMA coverage that follows major fights from announcement through to post-fight reaction. On the boxing beat, he reports live from arenas on contests such as Itauma vs Hrgovic, providing round-by-round results and immediate reaction from the O2.

He has delivered similar live updates on Naoya Inoue’s title defence against TJ Doheny in Tokyo, documenting how injuries and momentum swings decide championship fights. In advance of heavyweight showdowns like Anthony Joshua vs Daniel Dubois, he covers press conferences as set-piece moments, outlining broadcast details, pay-per-view information and the narratives each camp pushes before fight night. Alongside these single-event reports, he produces structured guides such as the UFC schedule for 2026, listing upcoming cards and announced bouts so readers can track the calendar across the year. His boxing coverage also extends to in-depth pieces on divisional rankings and marquee matchups, including analysis of contests framed as among the biggest and most controversial fights of the year.

Controversies, safety and ethics in the ring

A recurring thread in Pattle’s work is the scrutiny of rule breaches, medical risk and fairness in combat sports. He has written on high-profile fights where both boxers have returned adverse drug-test results, treating those cases as central to the event’s significance and questioning how oversight bodies handle repeat offenders. In ringside reflections on Wardley vs Dubois, he focuses on whether the stoppage came too late, weighing the drama of extended punishment against the human cost to the damaged fighter.

That piece balances the perspective of the boxing fan with an emphasis on welfare, showing an interest in how referees and cornermen manage the line between entertainment and protection. His Olympic boxing coverage has followed Imane Khelif’s gold-medal bout amid a wider dispute over gender testing and eligibility, setting the fight within a broader debate about inclusion, regulation and the handling of athlete biology in elite sport.

Across these stories, he treats controversies around doping, stoppage timing and gender rules as integral to understanding modern combat sports rather than as peripheral scandals.

Interviews, access and crossover promotions

Pattle’s reporting relies heavily on direct access to fighters and promoters, using interviews to illuminate both personal trajectories and business decisions in combat sports. His author profile highlights exclusive conversations with Oleksandr Usyk, Jake Paul and Israel Adesanya, signalling a focus on headline names whose decisions influence divisions and pay-per-view markets.

In covering the rise of Real American Freestyle Wrestling, he explores how a new brand featuring many UFC fighters is positioning itself within the US sports landscape, addressing both its growth and the implications for the wider MMA ecosystem.

He also reports on WWE-related content, including a workout session in which the tag team Pretty Deadly put him through the wrestler’s training routine, adding a participatory angle to explain the physical demands of sports entertainment. His bulletin coverage of Eddie Hearn’s response to Conor Benn’s loss to Ryan Garcia shows how he uses promoter interviews to frame questions about a fighter’s future and retirement timelines. Together, these pieces show a reporter who moves between traditional boxing, MMA, wrestling and crossover promotions, using access and experience to link different corners of the combat-sports world.

Tennis and wider sports coverage

While combat sports are his main focus, Pattle also covers tennis in depth, including interviews and features built around top players and former champions.

His work includes a piece in which Andy Roddick assesses Serena Williams’ rumoured comeback, using the former world No 1’s perspective to examine what a return would mean for the women’s game and Williams’ legacy. Beyond tennis, he contributes to broader football coverage, such as Premier League 2026/27 predictions in which he sets out his case for Arsenal as champions based on stability and squad evolution. He also takes part in longer-form projects like The Independent’s ranking of the 50 greatest players in World Cup history, helping apply a points system across tournaments from 1930 to 2022.

These assignments show a willingness to step outside combat sports for major football narratives and historical lists, while maintaining a primary identity rooted in boxing and MMA.